Sports Yachts For Sale

The modern sports yacht represents a pure form of yachting, with performance and sleek style to the fore, but also offering a useful amount of interior space and luxury.

If you are looking to buy a sports yacht, they are perfectly suited to weekends aboard, blasting from one port or anchorage to the next.

With sports yacht design evolving and improving all the time, you can also enjoy some of the best interior space and luxury around on later and larger models.

The sports yacht market starts at 10m and runs through to 30m+ superyachts, but the key sector is around 10m-20m, where owner operation, the owner taking control of and enjoying all that sports yacht performance, is central to design. 

The balance between speed and space has always been a challenge for yacht designers and builders. Older, pre-2000 models definitely erred on the side of speed, with more compromises made on cockpit and interior space. Since then, yachts have become larger and more voluminous, delivering lots more luxury with little lost in performance. 

Today, the best builders are able to create still exciting and sleek designs that somehow work in incredible amounts of space and luxury.

But performance should always be a priority for a sports yacht, and so they have a duty to return a fast, smooth hull, with enough power to hit and ideally pass 30 knots. Engine installations and propulsion will vary, with the usual twin diesel engines married to stern, pod, shaft, jet and surface drives, depending on the size and sophistication of the yacht itself.

Typical Sports yacht propulsion types

Yacht Length Drive type
10 - 12m Stern drive, or pod drive
12 - 15m Stern drive, pod drive, or shaft drive
15 - 20m Shaft drive, pod drive
20m+  Shaft drive

Sports yacht key features

  • Sleek exterior design
  • Hardtop with sunroof
  • Deck salon or main cockpit with seating and dining
  • Large aft cockpit with seating and lounging
  • Tender garage
  • Spacious cabins
  • Capable deep Vee hull design
  • Good handling 
  • 30 knots + top speeds

New Sports Yachts - Built To Order

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Popular Sports Yacht Models

Available Now - New Sports Yachts

Be the first to own one of these brand new sports yachts. There's no need to wait - they're scheduled to complete and be available for 2024 & 2025 cruising.

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Verified yacht listing - include

1 Not for sale to US residents while in US waters

2 Approx Price Conversion

Pictures shown are for illustration purposes only. Actual Yacht may vary due to client options.

Used Sports Yachts For Sale

View a wide selection of pre-owned sports yachts for sale in your area, explore detailed information & find the perfect sports yacht for you.

Latest Pre-Owned Sports Yachts

Verified yacht listing - include

1 Not for sale to US residents while in US waters

2 Approx Price Conversion

Pictures shown are for illustration purposes only. Actual Yacht may vary due to client options.

Recent Award Winning Sports Yachts

Check out the recent award-winning and finalist Sports Yachts and models.

Award WinnerPershing GTX116                                                            35.24m
                                                                            
                                Pershing
                                Photo
World Yachts Trophies Winner logo

Pershing

Pershing GTX116

35.24m

Winner

Best Innovation (30-60m)

World Yachts Trophies 2023

Award WinnerAzimut S6                                                            18m
                                                                            
                                Azimut
                                Photo
Motor Boat Awards Winner logo

Azimut

S6

18m

Winner

Sportscruisers (over 40ft)

Motor Boat Awards 2021

Award WinnerFairline Targa 43 Open                                                            14.2m
                                                                            
                                Fairline
                                Photo
Motor Boat Awards Winner logo

Fairline

Targa 43 Open

14.2m

Winner

Sportscruisers (up to 45ft)

Motor Boat Awards 2019

Award WinnerAzimut Atlantis 45                                                            14.61m
                                                                            
                                Azimut
                                Photo
World Yachts Trophies Winner logo

Azimut

Atlantis 45

14.61m

Winner

Best Interior Design

World Yachts Trophies 2019

Award WinnerAzimut S7                                                            21.37m
                                                                            
                                Azimut
                                Photo
European Powerboat of the Year Winner logo

Azimut

Azimut S7 (Mk1)

21.37m

Winner

Above 45ft

European Powerboat of the Year 2018

Award WinnerPrincess S60                                                            19.17m
                                                                            
                                Princess
                                Photo
Motor Boat Awards Winner logo

Princess

Princess S60

19.17m

Winner

Sportscruisers (over 45ft)

Motor Boat Awards 2018

Award WinnerFairline Targa 43 Open                                                            14.2m
                                                                            
                                Fairline
                                Photo
World Yachts Trophies Winner logo

Fairline

Targa 43 Open

14.2m

Winner

Best Exterior Design (14-18m)

World Yachts Trophies 2018

Award WinnerAzimut S6                                                            18m
                                                                            
                                Azimut
                                Photo
World Yachts Trophies Winner logo

Azimut

S6

18m

Winner

Innovation (46-60ft)

World Yachts Trophies 2018

Award WinnerJeanneau Leader 33                                                            10.56m
                                                                            
                                Jeanneau
                                Photo
Best of Boats Award  (BoB) Winner logo

Jeanneau

Leader 33 (Mk1)

10.56m

Winner

Best for Family

Best of Boats Award (BoB) 2017

Award WinnerRiva 76' Perseo                                                            23.25m
                                                                            
                                Riva
                                Photo
Motor Boat Awards Winner logo

Riva

76' Perseo

23.25m

Winner

Custom Yachts

Motor Boat Awards 2017

sports yacht FAQ

We're committed to making yacht buying easier, so if you can't find what you're looking for just ask.

  • The market is dominated by hardtop design, are there still open boats being built?

    Open Sports Yachts boats are still around, although they tend to be more focused on the performance end of the market, with generally less interior space across the yacht.

  • Are sports yachts cheaper to buy and run when compared to flybridge yachts?

    The extra build of a flybridge yacht, a whole deck’s worth, means it tends to be more expensive. How much more expensive is very much down to the exact models in question. The same builder offering two 15m hulls with the option of a flybridge or sports yacht superstructure may make only a small adjustment of around 10%-20%. 

    In terms of running costs, the main advantage for a sports yacht is improved fuel efficiency due to less structural weight and so a theoretically lower displacement.

  • Sports yachts are designed for Mediterranean climates, does that mean they are not suitable for colder regions?

    The sports yacht did grow out of Mediterranean yachting culture, but it is perfectly suitable for all cruising grounds. Its focus on handling and deck space has now been joined by impressive levels of interior space, so a sports yacht offers a good mix of skills regardless of where you boat.

  • What is an enclosed aft cockpit and how important is it?

    A useful development of hardtop design has been the ability to close of the interior section for the deck, creating a separate aft cockpit. Importantly, this also allows you to secure and protect the interior. A mixture of sliding doors and cleverly folding glass sections usually combine to open or close the interior and deck sections.   

    In such an instance, the interior section is called a deck salon and its new, protected status usually delivers a more luxurious lounge-like finish than on an open yacht.

  • What is an open yacht? I have seen it used when referring to boats that clearly have a roof?

    The term ‘open’ can be misleading, and is sometimes used as a straight substitute for the term sports yacht itself. 

    It is most commonly, and correctly, used to describe a yacht that is completely open to the elements, or one with a hardtop that opens onto the cockpit, without any separating doors. 

    But to confuse matters, some builders of large sports yachts, complete with cockpit doors,  refer to them as open yachts, perhaps because they adhere to older designs that were once fully open.

  • I am concerned about buying a sports yacht with sterndrives, what are my choices?

    Most sports yachts under 14m (45ft) will be powered by twin engines running on sterndrives. The arrival of pod drives means there is now more choice from around 12m but sterndrives are still the dominant force in sports yachts between 10m - 12m.

    The reason why sterndrives are so popular is simple, good performance and economy, allied to improved interior living space.

    If your sterdrive concerns are due to potential service costs or reliability, it is worth remembering that new yachts come with warranties and that most sterndrive issues are related to poor ownership rather than inherent faults.